theshenami

[theshenami]

Wanted to share my latest Cloti video, set to the tune of Purple Sun by Cannons. When listening to this song the other day, it just made me think of how they have fun while kicking ass together as outlaws fighting against Shinra. Hope you can have a watch and enjoy.

[theshenami]

On which GS date is canon in FF7 Rebirth: honestly, it's doesn't matter

I've seen a lot of debate lately around the Rebirth Ultimania not clearly stating whether any of the GS dates are canon, just a vague statement about how they're all sort of removed from the main story. Rather than focus on the shipping aspect of it, I wanted to share my thoughts in terms of which date best fits the story that Rebirth is trying to tell.

My understanding of the story is that the overarching plot concerns the pursuit of Sephiroth, and within that structure each of the main cast gets some character development, some of which leads to the resolution of their inner plots at the same points in the story as they were resolved in the OG. Aerith, Barrett, Nanaki and Cait Sith get their character arcs resolved by the end of the Disc 1 story, just like in the OG. Aerith's arc might continue on to some degree in part 3, but again, I'm just focusing on the plot of Rebirth. Yuffie gets a modified character arc, focus on joining AVALANCHE in the fight against Shinra rather than being all about the materia (don't get me wrong, it's still important to her, just no longer her core motivation), but since we can't go to Wutai yet like we could in the OG her character arc cannot resolve yet.

For the remaining cast, their arcs don't resolve until Disc 2 or later. Cloud's character arc peaks in the Lifestream, but his inner struggle doesn't reach a complete resolution until the end of Advent Children (it remains to be seen whether the devs change this in part 3). Tifa's character arc was also intimately intertwined with Cloud's, but I would argue that her arc also continues post-game, like when she's dealing with her guilt over the destruction of Sector 7 during On the Way to a Smile. Cid's don't resolve until Disc 2 in the OG, when he finds out the truth about Shera, and that hasn't changed here since we have not yet gotten our goddamn tea. Finally, Vincent's character arc doesn't fully resolve until the end of DoC.

So what does this mean for which GS date best fits the story arc of Rebirth? Well, I would argue that Nanaki's probably best fits the central premise of the whole Remake project, whether or not we can change fate (e.g. save Aerith, see Zack again, etc). That is literally the $64000 question in this game, and Red is the only one who brings it up on his date, so that would be my vote. I know Aerith's date best fits the narrative of the OG, since it both alludes to Cloud's dissociative identity disorder as well as sets the player up to be devastated when she meets her end at the Forgotten Capital, but the story being told within the plot Rebirth is all about whether she can be saved. My honorable mentions would be either Yuffie's or "the others", since they are just so damn funny to watch. I didn't seriously consider Tifa's date, despite how much I personally enjoyed watching it, because this resolution really should come later in the story in part 3.

[theshenami]

What arguing with Cleriths feels like

[theshenami]

For anyone who argues that Cloud and Tifa only like each other for their looks, I submit the following:

[theshenami]

If you know, you know

[theshenami]

So, about the English localization of FF7 Rebirth's sector 5 scenes

Sorry, this is going to be a long one, but I had recently seen on Reddit that several people mentioned the English localization for several chapter 14 scenes can be rather misleading. I decided to play through the opening cutscenes again in Spanish, since several people noted that it matches the original Japanese script very closely, and I neither speak nor read Japanese. My objective going into to this was to better understand several of the conversations that left me scratching my head.

For example, when Sephiroth comments on Cloud having a functional piece of white materia in the forest, the English line "Very poor form" left many of us scratching our heads. However, in Spanish he says "he de castigarte por ello", which can be interpreted as "I have to punish you for that". The English script creates a HUGE misunderstanding, and completely obscures the clear foreshadowing in the Spanish dialogue. Also, in Aerith's house she says to a very confused Cloud: "we could call it a homecoming" vs "hemos vuelto al planeta" (we have returned to the planet). The latter strongly implies that they are in the Lifestream, which they seemed to have fallen into at the end of Chapter 13.

The "date scene" also has some key differences between English vs Spanish. Notably, when the photographer says "you don't look like you're on a date, more like at a funeral. just have fun while you can, huh", in Spanish he says "no crees que haceis mala pareja? tu novia esta a punto de llorar. No teneis quimica, y punto" (don't you think you make a bad couple? your girlfriend is about to cry. you don't have chemistry, period). I mean, come on, he's WAY more savage in the Spanish version, and a lot clearer about why they lost the contest! I think the other party members would agree with that last point if they had to compare Cloud x Tifa vs Cloud x Aerith interactions throughout the game, with the former having chemistry that jumps off the screen.

Finally, several points of the conversation in the church scene between Cloud and Aerith seem to be clearer in Spanish, which honestly had me confused several times in the English version. I break down the entire English vs Spanish exchange below, structured as English/Spanish (with English interpretation in parentheses). I also put in both Cloud's low and high affection responses for reference.

Cloud: This is it right, our spot? / Aqui es donde querias venir? (Is this where you wanted to come?)

Aerith: Bingo / Has acertado (You got it)

Cloud: That was easy / Era obvio (It was obvious)

Aerith: I told you it was obvious / Eso es porque tenemos pocos recuerdos juntos (That's because we have too few memories)

Cloud: Well, you'll have to give me a harder one next time / Con el tiempo tendremos mas (We can make some more in the future)

Aerith: Oh, next time? / Eso es lo que quieres (Is that what you want?)

Cloud, low affection: Yeah, why not / Eso hacen los amigos, no (that's what friends do, right)

Cloud, high affection: Yeah, next time / Si, sin duda (Yes, definitely)

Aerith: At least I know now, where you and I stand, I mean. Thing is Cloud, I really like you. / Es un alivio saber lo que sientes (I'm relieved to know how you feel). Yo... te quiero (I... love you).

Aerith: But then, "like" can mean a lot of different things, can't it. Cause there's liking, and there's "liking. / Pero hay muchas formas de quere a alguien (But there are many ways to love someone). A cual crees que me refiero (Which one do you think I mean)?

Cloud: Seriously, what's going on? You've been weird all day. / Aeris, estas muy rara (Aeris, you are acting strange). Llevas todo el dia rara (You've been weird all day).

Aerith: I'm sorry / Permiteme un capricho ("Allow me to have a treat" is the literal translation, but it likely means "grant my strange/unusual wish" in this context).

Aerith: Whatever happens, don't blame yourself / Basta de sentirse culpable (Stop feeling guilty).

Aerith: Cloud, thank you / Cloud, ayudame (I need your help).

Aerith: Sorry, I'll be okay / Olvidalo, no he dicho nada (Forget I said anything).

She hands him the white materia, Cloud seems confused, and then:

Aerith: This isn't about me though, it's about saving the world, and you / Estoy segura de que esta materia salvara el mundo (I'm sure this materia will save the world).

Cloud then gets pushed into the rainbow light and, scene.

Much of the dialogue is the same between languages, but several points are clearer in Spanish: asking for Cloud to grant her wish before hugging him instead of abruptly apologizing first; telling him to stop feeling guilty (which alludes to his internal story arc); and telling him she needs his help before handing him the White materia vs "thank you" in the English script.

It is worth noting that the whole "te quiero" (i.e. I love you) part can be a bit misleading. In Spanish there are actually two ways to say "I love you": te quiero and te amo. The former is typically used in a more casual way such as for close friends or members of your extended family, and in some contexts can be interpreted as "I like you", which matches the English script. The latter "te amo" is typically meant to express "I'm in love with you" for romantic partners or deep love for close family members (such as your parents, siblings or children). So the Spanish dialogue seems to suggest that Aerith doesn't have overtly romantic feelings for Cloud. Side note, in Gongaga when Cloud asks if she still loves Zack, she simply replies "Si, aun le quiero" (yes, I still love him) in Spanish vs "Maybe, he's never given me a reason not to" in English. Again, the Spanish is so much clearer!

The differences that I thought changed the meaning of their dialogue the most are the English parts that mention "our spot", and the saving the world bits. For "our spot", in Spanish Cloud merely states the church is where she wanted to come, and does not refer to it as "our place" (nuestro sitio) like Aerith does prior to the church scene, which removes some of the confusion I had since it is not technically "their spot" (they first met on the Sector 8 plate, which she even reminds him of in Junon), but rather hers and Zack's. The change in the saving the world part also changes the subtext quite a bit, since the English version led some to believe that she was implying she could fill Tifa's role in the Lifestream sequence (i.e. be heroine of the inner plot), whereas the Spanish version places her focus entirely on being the heroine of the outer plot.

This analysis really makes me see these scenes in a whole new light (especially that photographer one, it's priceless in Spanish), as it makes them both clearer and more tragic. Now I really want to replay the entire game in Spanish, to see whether any other instances exist where the English is just too ambiguous compared to the Spanish, and hence the Japanese by association.

[theshenami]

On the remarkably consistent childhood friends to lovers romantic trope in the Final Fantasy series

Following my playthrough for FF7 Rebirth, I have been thinking about romantic tropes in the FF series more broadly. The stories that have romantic relationships that develop between the main cast (or at least guest party members) seem to all follow the childhood friends (or, at least, childhood/family connections) to lovers trope. Just wanted to list the examples I can think of that follow this paradigm. (Disclaimer, I have never completed FF6, so cannot speak to that game).

FF3: Ingus and Sara grow up together in Sasune castle, and become a couple at the end, with Ingus declaring that he will follow her anywhere and stay by her side. This is the well-known trope of the knight and princess falling in love.

FF4: Cecil and Rosa grow up together along with Kain, with whom they are in a love triangle. Kain sort of runs off in the end because he can't deal with the other two being together at the story's end.

FF7: I know, it's really the only debatable one due to the narrative and affection mechanics of the OG, but the plot clearly shows that Cloud and Tifa have harbored romantic feelings since childhood, and they are obviously a couple raising a family together in AC and DoC. ToTP and OTWTAS delve further into their feelings, but are really just the devs clearing up things they did/could not get into in the OG. The remake trilogy adds more depth to the relationship as well, since Square couldn't really use tone of voice or body language in the OG to express the clear romantic chemistry and tension between them in the first two trilogy entries. In fact, it is so obvious that other characters and party members actively bring it up (Marle, Johnny, Yuffie, Barrett, even Aerith at times).

FF8: This one is a childhood/family connection one, as Squall and Rinoa's parents had a unresolved love story. It's a bit of stretch, I know, but it does loosely fit in with the other couples' arcs.

FF10: Similar to FF8, this one involves Tidus and Yuna having a connection through their fathers' having been comrades during Yuna's father's pilgrimage 10 years prior to the main story. Yuna even goes so far as to state that it must be fate that brought them together, during their voyage from Besaid to Kilika. It is worth noting that this one is a two-fer, since Wakka and Lulu are also childhood friends who become lovers, especially if you incorporate the 10-2 subplot in which Lulu is literally pregnant with Wakka's child.

FF12: This one only hints at two childhood-friends-to-lovers couples. Basch and Ashe have history as it seems he was a knight in the Dalmascan military when they were both younger, and their history is hinted at rather than directly addressed as in other games. It is suggested that they may develop romantic feelings some time after the main story ends, but are both bound by duty to be apart. Vaan and Penelo fit the childhood friends to lovers trope much better, but their relationship is only ever implied: Balthier constantly teases Vaan about Penelo by calling her "your girl" multiple times (which Vaan never refutes), and the final scene of the game is literally Vaan returning to her as he says "I'm coming Penelo".

FF13: Snow and Serah are the childhood friends to lovers couple here, and they do end up together in the end if you ignore the two sequel storylines.

FF15: Noctis and Luna start off as childhood friends destined to have an arranged marriage, but they develop strong romantic feelings for each other despite being apart for several years (yet again, by tragedies befalling their families/homes), and are reunited in their love both in adulthood and in the afterlife.

FF16: This one is another two-fer, with the obvious pairing of Clive and Jill growing up together and having romantic feelings as children, then being forced apart due to tragic circumstances (anyone sensing a theme here?), only to be reunited and fall in love as adults. This one mirrors FF7 quite a bit, complete with the memory loss narrative elements where Clive and Cloud both forget about the key roles they played in their respective childhood tragedies, only to rediscover the truth while on a journey of self-discovery where they battle with their own subconscious to rediscover their true pasts, with their childhood love interests at their sides. As a bonus, Jill also goes through her own journey of self-discovery at Drake's Breath with Clive at her side, much like Tifa does together with Cloud in the Lifestream. The less prominent pairing is Dion and Terence, who mirror the FF3 arc of Ingus and Sara, with the knight and prince (rather than princess, bold move SE) declaring their mutual love by story's end.

Please let me know if I missed/misrepresented anything, and I hope you find this remarkable consistency in the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope in the FF series as interesting as I do.

[theshenami]

So I've been reading/hearing about a strange argument recently regarding Cloud and Tifa's relationship in the FF7 compilation. It goes something like this: 1) a common trope in Anime and Asian dramas is that the childhood friend competes with a new girl/guy for the male/female lead's romantic interest; 2) the childhood friend usually ends up on the losing end and suffers unrequited love; 3) therefore, Aerith must be the one Cloud chooses in the end since it agrees with that trope.

What I find strange about this argument is that the opposite of 2) is more often the case, at least from the few dozen Asian dramas (Korean and Chinese, mainly) I have watched, where the childhood friends (or at least those with some unknown childhood connection) who secretly/openly like each other (and maybe have a relationship that ends for some reason) end up reuniting years later as adults, and end up together in the end. This sounds exactly like what happens in FF7 for Cloud and Tifa.

For the Final Fantasy series, in particular those that involve romantic subplots involving main characters with either other main characters or guest party members who grew up together, it seems like all of these cases resolve with the childhood friends ending up together romantically. The specific examples I can think of at the moment are:

FF3: Ignus and Princess Sara

FF4: Cecil and Rosa (BTW this has an actual love triangle in the plot as well as the narrative, unlike FF7, which is in narrative only)

FF7: Cloud and Tifa (I mean, it's the plot after all, and their romantic chemistry/tension in the remake trilogy is so obvious that the other party members actively bring it up)

FF8: Squall and Rinoa (this is one is a bit of stretch, but they are loosely connected through their parents' tragic love story)

FF10: Tidus and Yuna (also a stretch, I know, but their parents were close comrades 10 years prior to the story, and Yuna also notes that it must be fate that brought them together)

FF12: Vaan and Penelo (I mean, he says "I'm coming Penelo" in the last scene of the game, Balthier constantly refers to Penelo as "your girl" to Vaan, and it's not like he's going to be with Ashe or Fran at the end)

FF13: Snow and Serah (yes, as nauseating as they are sometimes, and obviously excluding the sequel storylines)

FF15: Noctis and Luna

FF16: Clive and Jill

I mean, nobody would claim that any of these couples are nothing more than ships (FF7 debates aside), as they are all obviously canonical. The point I am trying to make is that the argument laid out above does not seem to hold water for FF7. From the examples I gave, it would seem instead that the FF series is remarkably consistent in having the childhood friends end up together. Just wanted to put my thoughts out there to the world, so they don't keep me up at night...